


A Warmer Welcome

by wrenblack



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Light Dom/sub, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Spanking, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 16:33:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8631082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrenblack/pseuds/wrenblack
Summary: On his own in the Free Marches on a quest to find Duncan's ancestral home, Alistair hears of an attack on the new Warden stronghold Vigil's Keep by "The Mother of all Darkspawn." So of course he drops everything and rushes back to Fereldan to make sure Warden Commander Cousland has everything under control - not at all because he's worried for his lover's safety or anything. Just doing his duty.
(Takes place just after the events of Origins - Awakening.)





	

The horse seemed relieved when he finally slowed her to trot on his approach to the main gate of Vigil’s Keep. Alistair had pushed the mare hard since he’d acquired her in the port outside Amaranthine the night before, determined to reach the Keep before first light. He had ridden overnight through a summer thunderstorm as though it were nothing, spurred on by thoughts of the battle his love had faced without him. Yet from outside, the walls gave no impression of there having been a siege upon them at all, much less mere weeks ago. There was a peace to the morning that belied the news he had heard of carnage in the city proper and an attack by a darkspawn horde.

The sticky haze left by the storm clung to his damp clothes and skin making him feel heavy and slow. Somewhere in the distant farmers’ fields a swarm of cicadas was waking, their drone filling his already crowded head. He longed for a bath and a bed, having seen neither since setting out from Ostwick in the Free Marches many days before. But first he needed to see Victoria and know that she was well.

He slid from the mare’s back meaning to walk her through to the stables, but finally riderless she planted her hooves in the mud and refused to be led an inch further. His treatment of her would clearly be born no longer. Just as exhausted as she, and quite a bit more anxious, he dropped her reins and left her where she stood with his pack and saddle and all, square in the middle of the road. He trudged through the muck toward the gates but as far as he could tell there was no guard to man them and no one to lift the portcullis. This early in the day, with the sun only suggesting that it might soon rise, Alistair supposed the man on duty was napping somewhere inside.

“Ho there!” he called as he made his way up the stairs to the gate, “Anyone awake in the Keep? A Grey Warden is returned! Is there no one to welcome him?”

A voice just inside grumbled, “Someone to welcome him? ‘Oo does ‘ee think he is?” and shouted, “Come back at’a more reasonable hour!”

Obviously humor was lost on this man so Alistair got to the point, “Oy ser! I am a Grey Warden and I require entrance to the Keep. Just raise the gates and you can go right back your nap, I promise.”

After a bit more grumbling, “A Warden ‘ee says. And where was ‘ee when the fightin’ was on?” there was the clank of chains and the portcullis began to rise. Alistair returned to his mare, and relieved her of his pack and armor. Without the load she seemed content to follow him up the stairs and through the gate, no pack animal was she, apparently.

“Thank you good man! A warmer welcome I could not have wished for,” he said as he passed the guard room, enjoying the sleepy look of confusion on the guard’s face.

The scene inside the walls told quite a different story than the stoic granite facade had. Everywhere there were signs of battle, catapult stones amid the rubble of buildings, scorched walls and grass, tents set up for the wounded and refugees. From inside, he could see where the darkspawn had made their way over the walls, trenches of compacted earth and uprooted plants marked their paths. The bodies of the dead had long since been removed, but armor both human and darkspawn had been stripped from the corpses and piled haphazardly near what once might’ve been a smithy. He took some small comfort from the obvious attempts at rebuilding that were underway, but his fear for Victoria’s health would not abate.

Unable to locate any stables, he and the horse made their way toward the inner keep. Its portcullis was raised at half to admit the height of a man, and standing watch was a young blonde soldier. She eyed him unkindly as he made a beeline directly for her. “Can I help you?” she asked coldly. He supposed he probably looked like a vagrant, unkempt, muddy and tired, so he couldn’t blame her for her attitude.

“Believe it or not, I am actually a Grey Warden and I need to speak with Commander Cousland as soon as possible.”

The soldier’s expression changed, but did not soften, “I’m sorry _ser Warden_ ,” she said with some bitterness, “but the Arlessa is still abed at this hour. She will be holding audiences this afternoon. You can speak with her then.”

So Victoria was alive and well, thank the Maker! Still he longed to see her and was not about to be kept away by this young Private. “I am Alistair Theirin, and I am not going to wait for her public audiences. I must speak to the Commander in private.”

“Look, I don’t care who you are. It’s barely dawn and I’ll not have you disturbing her,” the soldier uncrossed her arms and dropped her hand to the pommel of her sword. It suddenly occurred to Alistair that this young woman was not protecting her superior officer, but the Lady of the Keep and ruler of the Arling. His lover had once again become a noble, far above his station. Things would be so much easier right now if he had let them make him King.

Putting on his most innocent and trustworthy face he said, “I have killed an Archdemon and ended a Blight, unimpressive feats I grant you, but perhaps they are enough for you to believe I have only the best of intentions. Just please direct me to her chambers, I swear I will not disturb her.”

“You’re _that_ Alistair?” the woman said, finally relaxing.

“Now you’re getting it!”

“Apologies m’lord. Commander Cousland’s chambers are the third level of the tower off the rear of the main hall. If you wait in the hall, someone will bring you to her after breakfast. Please allow me to stable your horse and have her groomed.”

The sudden formality made him laugh, “Thank you Private, but please drop the m’lord. It’s really not necessary.” She nodded her assent, and taking the mare’s reins led it away.

Once inside, Alistair found the long vaulted chamber empty of any servants or guests, and made his way straight to the rear stairs to find Victoria’s rooms. It amused him that the soldier believed he would wait a minute longer to see her once he knew where she was. Not bloody likely. He took the steps two at a time up the narrow tower feeling as though he was coming home, despite never having been to Vigil’s Keep before.

There was only one door on the third landing and it opened onto a small comfortable sitting room with doors on either end. One set he assumed would lead to a formal reception room for guests and the other to her sleeping chambers. He guessed wrong on the first try, finding as he had suspected, a larger sitting room with great windows looking out across the country toward the sea. Though it was an airy room it felt stale and little used and it comforted him to think she had not so fully settled back into the life of a noble. He left the large double doors open in the hopes of letting some air into the humid inner rooms.

He dropped his gear by the empty fireplace and as gently as he could, cracked open the door to her bedchamber. Taking care to tread softly he slipped into the room, though knew he really needn’t worry, she slept like the dead. How anyone could sleep in that particular room, however, he had no idea. The windows were thrown wide but no breeze moved to stir the thick summer air. Sunlight had already begun to creep over the sill and soon the room would be bright and stifling. Yet there she was, body thrown across the bed, dead to the world.

Her solution to the heat seemed to have been to sleep with as little fabric around her as possible. The bed’s draperies had been tied around its posts and the comforter pushed completely off the side. Victoria was face down on top of the deep mattress wearing nothing but a pair of his undershorts, when or how she’d gotten those he had no idea. Her short cropped hair cowlicking up at the crown of her head, her bum facing him and the slow rise and fall of her back’s smooth expanse was maybe the most enticing thing he’d ever seen. The sight beckoned him to the unmade bed and spoke of much needed comfort and rest.

Alistair stripped himself of his still damp attire, dropping boots, shirt, breeches and smalls in a path from the door to the bed. Fully nude and no longer terribly concerned about disturbing his lover, he crawled up onto the bed and flopped down on his back beside her. She snuffled and shifted closer to him but did not wake, so he pulled her to his side. Once she was nestled against him, head on his chest, leg curled over his hip, he was almost instantly unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A woman shrieked and Alistair, still largely asleep, sat bolt upright and began groping around himself for a sword. He glimpsed a terrified female face disappearing behind a slamming door. He was sitting on a wide feather bed, naked and drenched in sweat. The room was unfamiliar, quite decadent, and blazing hot. Somewhere behind that door he could hear Victoria laughing hysterically in her clarion way. It was all very confusing.

“It’s quite alright,” Victoria was saying, still laughing, always laughing, “just leave the breakfast things there, Janessa.”

Quite a young sounding voice responded, “But my lady, that man! He was - ”

“Frightening, I know,” Victoria said, her laughter ebbing away, “He has that effect. But as I say, everything is perfectly alright.”

“Yes my lady, very well.”

During this short exchange, Alistair had enough time to clear his head of sleep, recall where he was and be completely mortified that a serving girl had walked in on him in his nude and disheveled state. Not the way he would prefer to start a day, all things considered.

Then Victoria opened the door to the bed chamber, and he changed his mind. She was framed by sunlight, wearing only the shirt he’d so recently stripped from his back, and carrying a tray of tea and breakfast cakes. This was exactly the way he would prefer to start a day. “A more beautiful sight I have never seen.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” she said, “Though I think perhaps it was too much beauty for dear Janessa to process.”

“Yes, poor thing. I imagine the sight has likely ruined her for other men.”

“Or it’s just ruined men for her full stop,” she said, setting the tray down on a small table by the door. With her back to him, she began pouring the tea.

He scooted to sit on the edge of the bed, “A man spends a week at sea on little more than a fishing boat, rides hard through the storms and the night rushing all the way from Ostwick to be by your side, and you expect him to look like a prince? It would be quite unfair of her to judge all male-kind by my present _frightening_ condition. Do you find me frightening, my love?”

She turned to face him, a teacup and pastry in hand, looked him over with a scrutinizing eye, said, “I find you ... delicious,” and took a bite of the pastry. At that particular moment, Alistair’s stomach gave a very convincing imitation of the previous night’s thunder and Victoria was once again laughing at him. “Here,” she said and brought him the tea and pastry.

Standing between his knees, she bent over and kissed his forehead as he sipped the tea - milk and two sugars, his kind not hers. She bent further to kiss his neck and the wide collar of the shirt gaped, giving him a bird’s eye view of her perfect breasts. He paused, pastry hovering in front of his mouth as her hand slid down his stomach and wrapped gently around his cock. The slow pump of her fist and the glide of her tongue at his pulse brought his sleepy member to life. He swallowed hard, “If you keep on like that, I’m going to spill this tea everywhere and burn us both.”

She stopped and hummed against his skin, “Hmm, I guess that is inevitable. Ah well.” Releasing his cock, she stepped away and went to pour herself a cup of tea. He immediately regretted having spoken, some minor burns would have been worth it.

“So love, you came from Ostwick? I thought you’d planned to journey through Kirkwall on your way to Highever.” she said, arranging herself attractively on the chaise beneath the window.

“That was the plan, yes, but when I arrived in Ostwick the city was bursting with tales of your battle with ‘The Mother of All Darkspawn’ so I came straightaway,” he said between bites of the sweet cheese pastry, “I can take Duncan’s family heirlooms to his grave at any time.”

“But you had to see if I needed rescuing first?”

“You never need rescuing, my dear. I just hated the idea of you having all the fun.”

“I’m so sorry you missed out! We’ll just have to find some other way for you to have fun now the battle’s done,” as she spoke, she let one leg drop over the side of the chaise and bent the other up just so, to give him a glimpse of her curls. Enough was enough.

“If you will not let me eat my breakfast in peace woman, then so be it,” he said, shoving the last of the pastry into his mouth and swallowing roughly. He stood up, marched purposefully to where she sat, took the tea from her hand and set both cups aside on a nearby table. Victoria made to move, but he stopped her firmly with a hand on her shoulder and dropped to his knees before her. Pushing her raised thigh back, he hiked the hem of the shirt up to her breasts and dropped his mouth to her sex. Using the hand on her belly to hold her still he went to work, taking long swipes of his tongue along her slit savoring the taste and smell of her arousal. He used her thigh as leverage to spread her and grant him better access to her clit. When his lips pressed to the swollen nub, her body arched and she gripped the curved back of the couch above her head. Always so vocal, he had her gasping in almost no time.

He opened her folds with his fingers and probed into her cunt with his tongue, he was more forceful than was strictly necessary but he intended to have _his_ way with her this morning. She shuddered and mewled and squirmed when his nose bumped her clit; it was intoxicating. He worked her with his mouth, her hips pinned under his forearm and in very short order she was writhing, begging him, “Please love - Maker please!” He plunged a thick finger into her and worried her pearl gently with his teeth and she came apart, her ecstatic screams echoing out the open window by her side.

Alistair drew back to admire his work but even as she came down from her orgasm panting and trembling, Victoria was smirking at him. He knew she was a second away from making a smart comment, so he he lay his body atop hers and smothered her mirth with a kiss. She responded greedily, hands coming to tangle in his hair, clearly enjoying the taste of herself on his lips and tongue. His erection pressed against her sweat slick belly as and she moaned into his mouth, tilting her hips upward. But he wasn’t about to give in to her yet. Hard as his cock was, he was still in control.

He broke away from her lips and pressed a finger to them. “Shush. The only sounds you’ll be making will be those that I wrest from you,” he said, hoping she would play the game his way this morning, “Nod if you understand.” Locking her gaze on his, pupils so wide her already dark eyes looked black, she nodded her assent. He pulled the loose shirt up over her head and tossed it away, leaving her very pleasantly nude beneath him, “And perhaps I’ll allow a little begging as well. I’m magnanimous like that.”

In order to get himself better situated for the plan forming in his mind, he straightened up and shifted forward so his knees were fully under him on the chaise. His cock jutted directly in his lover’s eye line and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “That is the general idea, yes love,” he said, stroking her cheek. So she sat forward, gripped the base of his cock and swept her tongue over the head. Being none too gentle herself, she took him into her mouth, pushing him deeply until he bumped the back of her throat. She hollowed her cheeks and sucked his length tightly as she pulled her head back off of him. It was an intentionally wanton display - she was playing his game and Maker he loved her for it!

This was maybe one of his favorite places in all of creation, Victoria looking up at him with mischief in her eyes, pink lips wrapped around his shaft. Drawing his length in and out of her beautiful mouth, she quirked an eyebrow up as though something interesting had just occurred to her. She smiled like a devil and lay back against the couch and Alistair knew he was in trouble. One hand still wrapped around his erection, she gripped his buttock with the other and pulled his pelvis toward her, just a chest level.

“Oh Victoria,” he said as she laid his glistening member in the valley between her breasts, “How do you always know exactly what I want?”

“Because I want it, too,” she said.

“Tsk tsk, lover. Did I give you leave to speak? For that I may have to put you over my knee,” he said, and looked down to see her push her full breasts together enfolding his cock. “Ungh. Later.”

Grasping the back of the chaise above her, Alistair began to pump his hips forward relishing the look of his dick sliding between her tits. Sometimes the variety of ways he could love Victoria’s breasts amazed him. The first time she’d suggested he fuck her like this, he had been astonished. What pleasure would she get from it? “Yours,” she had said. And she did genuinely seem to enjoy letting him take his pleasure from her body. She was certainly enjoying it this morning, the way her breath hitched when he picked up the pace, the genuine smile she wore looking up at him. The beat of her heart against the throb of his own pulse through his cock created a heady rhythm and he found himself thrusting in earnest.

Sweat from the heat and exertion ran down his chest and dropped onto her face and she blinked in surprise, her hums of pleasure turning into giggles. Her chest bounced and he lost his rhythm entirely, stuttering to a stop. Seizing the opportunity, she dipped down and took the head of his cock into her mouth, her tongue flicking over the tip. “Fuck,” he said, the curse more a bark than a word, “Stop.” Much as he would love to come onto her lovely face, he had a longer game in mind today.

She looked slightly confused and concerned as he pulled back from her and stood. “What is it?”

“Again she speaks without leave. She must be taught to obey,” he said, and bent to scoop her up. Victoria squealed as he flung her over his shoulder, and again when he smacked her firmly on the ass. Anticipating the other delightful noises he could pull from her this way he turned and plopped her down on the bed. She lay prostrate before him, trying to use the spread of her thighs and the arch of her body to silently manipulate him. Pretending to cede control and fighting for dominance all the while. Alistair would have none of it.

He sat on the edge of the mattress beside her, feet planted on the floor. “Here now,” he said, patting his lap, “we’ve a lesson to learn, don’t we?”

Despite the timid way she sat up and crawled across his knees, there was no mistaking the excitement on her face. Once she was settled, his erection pinned between their bodies, her breasts against his thigh, he began to gently caress her generous bottom. Then he slapped it sharply but lightly, and she flinched with an “Oh!” more surprised by the sound than any sting he might have caused.

“Now that I have your attention,” he said, and swatted her again more firmly. Her body rocked in his lap as he spanked her, causing a lovely friction against his length. Her cheeks began to redden under his hand as it elicited the most delightful yelps from her. When she started to squirm, squeezing her thighs together, Alistair knew he had her right where he wanted her.

With a soothing stroke to her backside he asked, “Would you like me to fuck you now, pet?” and then smacked her again. She let out an “Ah!” but said nothing more, only nodded vehemently. “And are we going to play by the rules?” Another caress followed by a light blow. This time the sound Victoria made as she nodded was closer to a whimper.

Alistair ran a hand down the cleft of her ass, teasing her rear opening with his large middle finger before moving further to push it into her eager cunt. She shuddered and moaned with the penetration. With his other hand he tipped her chin so their eyes met and as he pumped his finger in and out of her he said simply, “Beg.”

The dam broke and words seemed to spill from her, “Please baby please Alistair fuck me fuck me so hard baby please I need you inside me - ”

Cutting her off mid-stream with a growl, Alistair picked her up by the waist and tossed her off of his lap face down onto the bed. He crawled up behind her and moved to pin her there with his body. Planting his hands on the mattress either side of her he pressed his torso to her back. Bending down to bite her where her neck met her shoulder he said, “As you wish.” Closing her eyes and sighing, she arched her back and pushed her ass up against his hips. With a little adjustment on his part, it was the perfect angle for him to slide into her warm tight wetness.

“Yes,” she whispered, but he was too far gone to care about his silly game any longer. And much too goddam hard. He gave her no quarter, immediately pounding into her with all that he had. Maker did she feel good underneath him, the way she shoved her backside up to meet the snap of his hips, her drive just as frantic as his own.

All too quickly he was on the edge, but he knew this wouldn’t be enough for Victoria to get off. So he pulled out and flipped her onto her back. Once he was hovering above her again, she gripped him by the back of his neck and pulled him down into a fierce kiss. Her tongue delved into his mouth, one hand fisted into his hair and the other scrabbled at his back, nails biting through his skin. He took great pleasure in making her gasp for breath as he plunged back into her waiting heat.

Kissing and biting down her neck and collar to her breasts, pressing a hand between their bodies to work her clit, he was relentless in his pursuit of their mutual climax. Alistair took one of her stiff rosy nipples into his mouth and sucked hungrily. For her part Victoria arched and bucked and bowed to his every ministration, crying out her pleasure. Those cries soon became a high keen as the walls of her sex pulsed and clutched at his cock.

Between heaving breaths she called out his name and he looked up from her beautiful breast to see her face contort with her orgasm, a sight which pulled him over the edge with her. His hips jerked forward and with that last deep thrust he spilled himself inside of her. She held him there as the spasms of his climax subsided and he was utterly spent.

Weak and panting, Alistair collapsed onto his lover’s prone form fully intent on falling into a deep and abiding sleep, but as soon as their sweat drenched bodies came together she shoved him off onto his back. “Ugh! It is far too hot for that.”

“But I missed you,” he said, rolling over and nuzzling his face into her neck, “and you’re just so … comfortable.”

She kissed him on the forehead and wriggled away from him. “I missed you as well, love. And there will be plenty of time for cuddling later, but just now I have to go play the Arlessa and entertain all the squabbling nobles.” He sat up to watch her hunt about the messy room for something to put on, thoroughly enjoying the glow of midmorning sun on her bare sweaty skin.

“So play the Arlessa - make them wait. Stay here with me instead.”

She settled on his shirt once again, and having dressed, relatively, came to sit on the bed beside him. “Would that I could, Alistair,” she said sighing, “I don’t much like being the Lady of the Keep, but since you put me in charge I haven’t much choice, have I?”

Alistair did his best to look like a wounded Mabari, reaching out to take her hand and saying, “I am so very tired from my long _arduous_ journey and I rest so much easier with you in my arms my darling. For my sake, will you not stay?”

Victoria rolled her eyes, “Yes well, you are free to take all the rest that you require. I, however, need to bathe and dress.” She kissed his palm and, planting her hands on her knees pushed herself up with a resigned air. “Like it or not, I have duties to attend.”

He smirked up at her and said through a yawn, “The perks of being in charge. Enjoy them, my highborn lady.”

And walking out the door she said, “Enjoy your nap, my bastard prince.”


End file.
